Budget Cut Forces End to Carson Parks Aid

An era has passed in Carson as the City Council eliminated subsidies for a host of Parks and Recreation Department programs.

The council dropped the subsidies as it passed a $29.1-million 1991-92 spending plan Monday, the last day of a self-imposed budget deadline. The new budget is about $500,000 lower than last year’s.

Fiscal hard times necessitated across-the-board cuts in all departments. But the biggest change is the move to make a variety of parks and recreation programs self-sustaining.

The parks department remains the second most expensive item in Carson’s budget at $6.3 million, behind only Public Safety’s $8.6-million allocation. And recreation programs, such as youth sports, aquatics and operation of the Veterans Park sports complex, will continue.

But under the new budget, the programs must pay their own expenses through increased fees or face closure.

With the exception of the sports complex, which charges membership fees to residents and non-residents, Carson provided recreation programs largely free of charge to residents. Participants in youth sports, for example, paid nominal fees to cover costs of uniforms.

Eric Forsberg, an assistant parks and recreation director, said residents will notice little difference in the quality of the activities.

“It’s a change, and all change is difficult sometimes,” Forsberg said. “I recognize that. But we’re making the transition from free to fee (charges). . . . I’m proud that we still have these programs. Some cities don’t have them anymore.”

Several community service programs were also made self-sustaining. These include the Tiny Tots day-care program for preschoolers and a variety of classes, such as computer training and ethnic history and dance. Tiny Tots and the special classes are operated by the city’s community services division.

Deputy City Administrator Scot Yotsuya said the decision to make all the programs self-sustaining will save $1 million.

The city’s ongoing fiscal crisis made it difficult to continue subsidies, city officials said. With tax revenue outpaced by spending and state funding for the city on the decline, the council was left scrambling to craft a balanced budget.

That the city will no longer subsidize recreational activities is a stunning reversal of fortune for Carson’s much-praised parks programs. Since the city incorporated in 1968, the department steadily grew and expanded its activities.

In the process, it built a vocal and loyal constituency among residents, who often jammed the council chambers to protest proposed cuts. But Monday, parks supporters were conspicuously absent; the council chambers contained a sparse audience.

The council passed the budget 3 to 0, with Juanita McDonald abstaining. Councilwoman Vera Robles DeWitt was absent, though she previously expressed opposition to the budget.

The city will use about $1.2 million in state gas tax revenue earmarked for street and transportation improvements to cover general operating expenses.

“It could be looked at as a temporary move to get us over the hump here,” City Administrator Larry Olson said. He added that if the council had not used the gas tax money, “there would have been $1.2 million worth of jobs to cut.”

As it is, the new budget eliminated nine city positions, including six in the Parks and Recreation Department. The department’s staff still numbers more than 100.

Also cut was the manager of the Job Clearinghouse, a city-run employment agency. The program will continue but will be directed by the city’s Personnel Department.

The cuts will leave the city with 283 employees.

Last year, the council adopted a $29.6-million budget almost five months into the fiscal year, which begins July 1. Two years ago, the city did not pass a budget until January.

But under an ordinance adopted by the council in November, paychecks would have been withheld from council members had they not passed a balanced budget on Monday.